Ask Me
by Lady Nightshade
Summary: A look into what Isis went through with her father, after her mother's death and how it affects her life afterwards. Child Molesatation and Rape is in this story so you've been warned! ONE SHOT!


Ask Me  
  
Author's Notes: Well this is another One Shot going into the Family History of the Ishtar Family and into the present. It goes into rape scenes and Child Molestation. Oh and incest since it deals with Ishtar raping a little Isis. This will mainly focus on what Isis went through. If I can find a song that will fit I will write one that focuses on what Malik went through and then maybe another one on what Rashid went through.  
  
"Ask Me" is owned by Amy Grant  
  
A five year old Isis grasped the hand of a ten year old Rashid and watched as her mother said good bye to her, having died giving birth to Isis' baby brother, Malik. Ishtar had taken the child without giving his wife a chance to hold her son and was currently presenting the babe to the elders of the Tomb Keeper clan. The little girl couldn't seem to bring herself to believe that her mother was passing away before her eyes. Her wide blue eyes watched the woman that birthed her slowly pass away. Her father hadn't cared enough to call in the midwife sooner and instead had let her nearly bleed to death before calling one. Isis had tried to help her mother in the birthing process, but from the looks of things she had failed. Now the heavy feeling of guilt settled into the pit of her stomach and made her queasy.  
  
"Momma," whispered Isis letting go of Rashid's hand and rushing to her mother's side. "Please don't die momma, we need you."  
  
"Oh my beautiful daughter," whispered the dying woman brushing Isis' dark hair from her blue eyes. "I will always be there for you, as long as you remember that fact and keep me in your heart. I will never, ever leave you. Rashid, my dear son, please take care of my children, your brother and sister."  
  
"I will do as you say mother," said Rashid solemnly.   
  
With that the mother of the latest Ishtar Clan passed into the after life leaving her children, both adopted and blood, to the mercy of a man with a dark soul and an even darker heart. The woman had no idea exactly how dark the man she had been betrothed to was. Don't get her wrong, Lady Ishtar was no fool she knew that the man whom she had given child to was a dark man, yet she had no idea that his darkness was darker then a cloudy night when the moon and stars where hidden by clouds and shadows.   
  
Her worst fear was coming true, she had just left her beloved children in a nightmare; that would make them wish they had died along with their mother. They were just about to see how dark their father was, especially Isis.  
  
A year had passed since Isis' mother had passed away, and Isis tried her best to stay out of her father's way and spent most of her time taking care of her baby brother. However, it was when the baby was asleep that she would be the most afraid of her father, because it was then that no one could save her from her father. Not even Rashid who would normally be sent away during these times could save her.   
  
Isis curled into a ball under the desk in her room, the small cloth hiding her form. Yet she knew that he could still see her, she stifled her sobs against her knees and rocked back and forth. Wishing she and her brothers were somewhere else, anywhere else. A soft wailing caught her attention and her head snapped up and she perked her ears and recognized the wails of her brother. Slowly, ever so slowly she peaked out from under the desk and looked around her room, seeing no one she crept to her door and looked around the halls, seeing no one she stood up and hurried to her brother's room.  
  
"Its okay," said Isis picking up her younger brother. "Everything is going to be okay."  
  
Finally Malik quieted down and went back to sleep and Isis gently placed him back in the crib.   
  
"That's it," she whispered tucking him back under the covers. "Sleep well."  
  
She crept back to her room where her father grabbed a hold of her and threw her down on the bed.  
  
I see her as a little girl hiding in her room  
  
She takes another bath and she sprays her momma's perfume  
  
To try to wipe away the scent he left behind  
  
But it haunts her mind.  
  
At first Isis wasn't sure she was alive, but the pain inside her body was hers and if she could feel then that meant she was still alive. However, her life was a nightmare and not something one would be proud to have. She moved slowly and careful her wild blue eyes looking around for the man that had sired her, when she didn't see him she slowly crawled out of bed. She stumbled around slightly and began to feel her legs giving out from under her; grasping onto the desk to stop her descent. It didn't stop her from collapsing onto the floor in a heap. She bite back the whimper and slowly sat up, she tried to get to her feet but the pain between her legs was too much to bare and she just lay there for awhile.  
  
She gasped when she felt hands slid under her body and she twisted to see who it was, she was relieved to see Rashid cradling her small body against him. She grasped the front of his tunic and buried her face in the material, as he slowly slipped down the hall into the bathing chambers. He placed her down on the chair and helped her out of the blood and semen stained tunic; before retrieving a wash cloth and bowl. Dipping the bowl into the warm water he returned to Isis side and gently washed away the dirt, blood and semen; when he had finished he wrapped her in a large sheet and carried her back to her room. He glanced down and noting that she had fallen asleep carefully tucked her and extinguished all the candles but one, left the room silently; hoping that the single candle would keep nightmares and monsters away from the young girl.  
  
It was around midnight when Rashid heard the sound of water splashing; he slipped out of his bed and down the hall toward the bathing chambers. There he saw Isis scrubbing her skin until it was red from the effort, he knew what she was doing but it wouldn't help to get rid of his scent. It would remain with her forever staining her mind and conciseness even as an adult it would be with her.   
  
"Isis?" he whispered softly being careful not to awaken her father.  
  
"I can't get rid of his scent," she whispered softly looking at him. "It won't come out."  
  
Rashid sighed and gently gathered the girl into his arms and rocked her to sleep as she cried against his shoulder so her father wouldn't hear her and come in.  
  
You see she's his little rag, nothing more than just a waif  
  
And he's mopping up his need, she is tired and afraid  
  
Maybe she'll find a way through these awful years to disappear.  
  
Isis was eight years old now and she was starting to get worried about what her father would do to her little brother now that he was getting older. She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself against the cold dampness of the tomb. Her father was talking to the elders about the ritual her brother would have to go through within two years. She sighed brushing her long black hair from her eyes. She felt so tired and so much older then she really was; it felt like she had aged a decade within the past three years. It felt like she was eighteen instead of just a mere eight years old.   
  
Every time she looked at her father, she felt sick to her stomach and wanted nothing more then get away from him as soon as possible. But as her daughter she was honor bound to stay until he dismissed her, he never dismissed her until he was finished.   
  
"Isis," whispered her younger brother walking up to her grasping tightly to Rashid's. "I made something for you."  
  
"What did you make?" asked Isis crouching down slightly.   
  
Malik proudly held out a small paper lotus flower he had made, it was rough, like something a child would create. Yet despite it looking like it was a gift from her baby brother and she loved it.  
  
"Thank you Malik," said Isis taking it tenderly as if she were afraid it would break. "I love it."  
  
Malik grinned proud of himself at making his sister happy and glad it had been something he had made that had made her smile. Isis kissed his cheek and placed it in a small earthen bowl on her desk.   
  
Ask me if I think there's a God up in the heaven  
  
Where did He go in the middle of her shame?  
  
Ask me if I think there's a God up in the heavens  
  
I see no mercy and no one down here's naming names  
  
Nobody's naming names.  
  
Malik was awakened later that night by the sounds of groaning and muffled sobs. Curious he crept from his cot in his room and following the sounds to his sister's room peaked inside. His eyes widened at what he saw and his childlike mind couldn't take in and understand what had happened. He watched his father, naked as he moved up and down on top of his sister, with his penis going in and out of Isis. He couldn't understand what was going on and but he knew his sister was in pain and that was enough for him.   
  
"What is going on Isis?" whispered Malik.  
  
Ishtar turned and saw his son staring at them with wide shocked eyes.   
  
"What are you doing in here boy?!" demanded Ishtar pulling away from Isis.  
  
Malik watched as his naked father walked up to him and slapped him clear across the face sending the younger Ishtar into the wall.   
  
"Leave him alone!" screamed a hysterical Isis as she wrapped a sheet around her and ran to her little brother's side.   
  
Isis gently brushed the white hair from her brother's eyes, a gash in his forehead was bleeding.   
  
"You stupid bitch," said Ishtar slapping Isis and pulling the sheet off of Isis. "You should have stayed on your bed!"  
  
Isis whimpered and scampered into a dark corner trying curling into a fetal position and praying that she would disappear into nothingness. She screamed when she felt him grab her hair and left her up into the air. At that moment Rashid burst into the room and moved forward only to have Isis slam into him and the two of them go flying through the air.  
  
"We aren't finished Isis," said Ishtar leaving the room. "We aren't finished by a long shot."  
  
Within two years that nightmare came to an end and the three of them would fall into another nightmare which would pull them apart at the very seams.   
  
Now she's looking in the mirror at a lovely woman face  
  
No more frightened little girl, like she's gone without a trace  
  
Still she leaves the light burning in the hall  
  
It's hard to sleep at all.  
  
A year had passed since Battle City had ended and the Ishtar family returned to Egypt. Isis brought an apartment for them to live in until the two males got jobs; Rashid wanting to stay near Isis, because he was falling in love with her got a job as her body guard. Malik being the overprotective brother decided that he should get a degree in Egyptology so he could keep an eye on his sister and the men that she worked with. The night long ago when he saw his father raping her still fresh in his mind and not wanting her to get hurt like that again, he vowed to himself that if any man raised a hand to her they would die.   
  
Isis had managed to come to terms with what her father had done to her and she knew that he could no longer get to her. However, she still crept around the apartment at night; some things were too hard to stop doing. She knew that he could still reach her in her dreams and in your dreams no one could hear you scream.   
  
She wished to some degree that she could be free of her fear of him, forever. But it seemed that fate refused to let her rest peacefully, tonight or any other night. She slipped into her bathroom locking the door behind her, fearing that somehow her father's ghost would come to haunt her. As she stepped into the rain she listened for the familiar footsteps in her room and the heavy breathing in the dark corners. Stepping out of the warm spray of water she shook out her stall and wrapped a towel around her slim form drying off before replacing the towel with a silk robe and wrapping her towel around her hair.   
  
She slipped back into her bedroom drawing the curtains closed and turning the lamp near her bed so she could see enough to turn on the overheard light. She sat down at her vanity and taking up a bottle of lotion began to run it over her legs to keep her skin from drying out. After she finished that she slipped into her undergarments and her silk night gown with silk blue pants and a matching button up shirt.  
  
Still she crawls up in her bed acting quiet as a mouse  
  
Deep inside she's listening for a creaking in the house  
  
But no one's left to harm her, she's finally safe and sound  
  
There's a peace she's found.  
  
Isis headed back to the light switch and turned it off, moving silently she crawled into her bed, whose golden sheets smelled like Lotus flowers in full bloom. She hugged the pillow and inhaled deeply of the scent that reminded her so much of her mother. She sighed and rolled over onto her back staring up at the darkened ceiling watching the shadows flicker across the ceiling. She blinked her eyes and for a second she thought she saw the shadow of her father reaching out to her.   
  
Gasping Isis shot up in bed wide eyes scanning her room for any sign of intruders. She blinked as the light switched on and Malik entered the room, wearing nothing but his pajama bottoms.   
  
"You should be asleep Malik," said Isis running her tan slender hand through her black hair.  
  
"So should you," retorted Malik leaning against his sister's doorframe.  
  
"You have school in the morning," said Isis. "Go to bed."  
  
"And you have work tomorrow," said Malik, before muttering under his breath. "Along with horny jack asses."  
  
"Malik," said Isis.  
  
"I didn't say a thing," said Malik holding his hands up.  
  
Isis just gave him a look and he just looked away and whistled innocently. After a few minutes he turned back to look at his older sister.   
  
"You had the dream again didn't you?" asked Malik.  
  
"No," said Isis. "I didn't even go to sleep."  
  
Malik sighed his sister was forever trapped in a world of fear, and he wondered if anything short of death could drag her out of it.  
  
Ask her how she knows there's a God up in the heaven  
  
Where did He go in the middle of her shame?  
  
Ask her how she knows there's a God up in the heavens  
  
She said His mercy is bringing her life again.  
  
Isis stepped out of the car with her brothers following behind her; they stared down at the young girl that had just fallen from the roof.   
  
"So this is the lover of Pharaoh?" asked Rashid glancing down at Isis and Malik for conformation.  
  
"She is," said Isis nodding calmly, serenely like she always was. "Malik."  
  
Sighing Malik bent down and scooped up the young woman who whimpered in pain at being moved.  
  
"Be careful," whispered Isis. "We don't want them to find out we are taking her and we also don't want her anymore damaged then she already is."  
  
"I know," grunted Malik straightening up and holding the girl close to him making sure not to jostle her too much.   
  
"Come," said Rashid glancing to the door of the building. "I think we are about to have company."  
  
"Right," said Isis climbing into the car and letting Arora be handed to her before Malik climbed in again followed by Rashid as the car started into motion.  
  
Isis stared down at the young girl and brushed her hair from her eyes, maybe things would look better after tonight. Perhaps her worry for the girl would override her worry of her father's ghosts and the dark shadows of her past.  
  
Ask me how I know there's a God up in the heaven  
  
(How do you know?)  
  
Where did He go in the middle of her shame  
  
(Where did He go?)  
  
Ask me how I know there's a God up in the heavens  
  
(How do you know?)  
  
She said his mercy is bringing her life again  
  
She's coming to life again.  
  
Isis stared down at the young girl who was wrapped from her chest to her thighs in bandages. The girl looked so pale, so fragile it was almost hard to believe that the young girl had survived falling off a rather high building. But she knew that the girl had inner strength and would survive the fall and come back stronger then ever. Placing a sheet over her Isis turned away and headed out of the room and down the hall to her own room.   
  
She wished that she had the same inner strength that Pharaoh's mistress had and her own mother. Yet if she had had that strength she wouldn't let the nightmares destroy her and the shadows wouldn't taunt her with remembrances of what her father had done to her as a child. But still the nightmares came and taunted her with horrifying images of her father coming to her, lying with her, and raping her; and still the shadows caressed her with the cold touch of her father that made her skin crawl. Every time she closed her eyes she could see her father's hands reaching for her in the darkness and she would jerk awake suddenly and stare wildly into the darkness. Lately it had gotten so bad that she would leave the light on in her bathroom to keep the shadows away.  
  
But luckily the nightmares and shadow fathers were becoming fewer and fewer because she spend most of her waking moments either working on dig sites and taking care of Arora. So she slept less and if she slept less she wouldn't dream and the shadows wouldn't get her. She leaned against her bedroom wall and slowly sank down to the ground, the fatigue wearing on her and she slowly slipped into a silent slumber.  
  
Isis lay on a cold stone slab that reminded her of her bed and slowly opened her eyes looking up into the darkened room.   
  
"Where am I?" she whispered softly.   
  
"So my daughter," whispered a familiar voice. "You have finally fallen into a deep enough sleep where I can get to you."  
  
"Don't touch me," whispered Isis backing off of the slab.   
  
"You are mine daughter," whispered the man coming out of the shadows and that will never change.  
  
Isis watched wide eyed in fear as her father walked towards her slowly.   
  
"Malik!" she screamed dodging his outstretched hand.   
  
Ishtar snarled and snapped the whip at her side around her neck jerking her onto her back and pulling her towards him, her back scarping on the cold stone floor. Isis screamed in pain when her father slammed his foot down on her chest.  
  
"Stupid bitch," snarled Ishtar. "No one can here you in your sleep."  
  
Isis struggled against her father's hands as he crouched down over her and gripped her arms tightly trying to stop her movements. His hands moved down her arms and he gripped her wrists holding them together he pinned them above her head with one hand. His other hand clawed at her blouse and she began to scream trying to kick him off of her.   
  
It hadn't helped then and it didn't help now, she didn't know why she ever tried to fight against him it never worked, it only served to make things worse.   
  
'Isis,' a voice whispered in her mind. 'Isis, wake up.'  
  
Isis blinked and shook her head slightly and slowly came back to awareness. She looked up and saw Rashid staring down at her with concern.   
  
"Are you alright Isis?" he whispered as he stroked her cheek.   
  
Isis didn't say anything, instead she threw herself into his arms and clung to him as if she were afraid he would slip away from her grasp and leave her to her nightmares and shadows.  
  
He's in the middle of her pain  
  
In the middle of her shame  
  
Mercy brings life  
  
He's in the middle  
  
Mercy in the middle.  
  
Rashid cradled the sleeping body of Isis against him and slowly slipped one hand under her legs, standing so he could carry her to her bed. He placed her down before turning the bed down next to her and then slipped her under the covers. As he straightened up she grasped his shirt that he wore as a Rare Hunter and whimpered under her breath missing his warmth.  
  
"Stay," she murmured in her sleep. "Please stay. I don't want to be alone."  
  
Rasid sighed and stared down at her face contorted in fear. Even in her sleep the bastard still had a hold on her. He sighed and glancing around silently slid into bed with Isis wrapping his arms around her, protecting her from the darkness of her memories.   
  
"I'll stay," he whispered wiping the hair from her eyes tenderly. "I'll stay for as long as you will have me."  
  
Then slowly Rashid himself slipped into a deep sleep his arms wrapped protectively around the woman he loved. She had a beautiful scent that seduced him into comfortable bliss, pouring into his mind like a flood and the feel of her body as sweet as perfection, her smooth, fragile body molding perfectly with his rough, muscular one.   
  
Isis never dreamed that night, nor did she dream any other nights her nightmares and shadows never being able to reach her again. Because every time they came to reach her, Rashid was there to chase them away. She had finally found her peace.   
  
So ask me how I know  
  
Ask me how I know, yeah  
  
Ask me how I know there's a God up in the heaven  
  
(How do you know?)  
  
Ask me how I know there's a God up in the heavens  
  
(How do you know?)  
  
Yeah, ask me how I know  
  
(How do you know?)  
  
Ask me  
  
Ask me  
  
Ask me how I know  
  
(How do you know?)  
  
There's a God up in the heavens  
  
Ask me how I know there's a God up in the heavens.  
  
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